Despite the fact that former President Donald Trump is facing a potential third indictment in just six months, his GOP rivals are still walking on eggshells criticizing a candidate who could be a convicted felon by the time voters head to the polls in the 2024 election.
One Republican operative working for a rival presidential campaign tells Politico that candidates are going to be especially wary of criticizing Trump for any charges related to his effort to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
"Jan. 6 just gins up the base," the operative explained.
Another senior adviser to a Trump rival expressed a similar sentiment and lamented that "it seems like each indictment has only gotten him more support."
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Mike Madrid, a one-time Republican strategist who cofounded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, tells Politico that Trump's rivals are going to have to go through an absurd ritual where they are ostensibly running against the former president while being terrified to deliver the slightest amount of criticism for fear of angering his supporters.
“This is the kabuki dance they’re going to be doing for months — it ain’t going to be the first time and it ain’t going to be the last time,” he said. “The kabuki dance is trying to have it both ways while they try to wait for dust to settle on his legal problems.”
